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$5.9M new fire station up for vote in Groton

By Pierre Comtois, Correspondent

Updated:
01/04/2013 06:36:33 AM EST

GROTON -- As a new year begins, local officials are expected to conduct a last round of meetings and public hearings related to measures to be listed on the warrant for a Special Town Meeting scheduled for Jan. 26.

The three articles to be presented to voters are those covering funding for: a new Center Fire Station to be constructed on Farmers Row, the removal and/or replacement of Fitch's Bridge, and the cost of herbicides for use in eliminating weeds from Lost Lake.

The most high profile of the articles is for the fire station, an issue residents have been wrestling with for almost two years.

After an exhaustive review process, officials settled on a location along Farmers Row, close to the existing Public Safety Building.

According to Town Manager Mark Haddad, the fire-station article, if approved by voters, would authorize the appropriation of $5.9 million to cover the cost of building the new facility.

When completed, the new building will include a four-bay garage and two-story administration complex with offices on the first floor; fitness room, dormitory, kitchen, dining room, and day room planned for the second floor; and HVAC and other mechanical equipment to be placed in the third floor "attic" space.

In anticipation of an affirmative decision at Town Meeting, the project has already been put out to bid. With "sub-bids" having been received and opened by Dec. 12, a contractor is expected to be chosen in time for Town Meeting.

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Although the total cost of the new fire station would come to $7.5 million, Haddad has said the lower figure was arrived at because $800,000 for design plans and permitting was previously approved by voters as well as $350,000 to buy the 2.7-acre parcel.

If the spending measure is passed at Town Meeting, construction of the new fire station is expected to begin by March 1 and be completed on April 1, 2014.

Also on the warrant will be a second article seeking the appropriation of funds to cover the cost of a weed-killing program to be conducted at Lost Lake using a herbicide that has been proven safe and effective in other Massachusetts' ponds and lakes.

If approved, the measure will allow the town to appropriate an estimated $100,000 to pay for the use of a herbicide called Sonar that will be used to treat the lake water and kill the weeds.

The issue of invasive plant species such as milfoil, cabomba, water chestnut, and free-floating filamentous infesting the town's lakes and ponds has been around for many years. The problem has reached crisis proportions only recently with forests of plants carpeting the bottom of bodies of water such as Lost Lake.

A third article will seek residents' approval for the appropriation of funds for the repair and replacement of the historic Fitch's Bridge that spans the Nashua River but which is currently closed to traffic.

While a final cost for the work is yet to be determined, the Greenway Committee, sponsors of the article, expects to have a figure from its consultants by the middle of December and in time for presentation at Town Meeting.

Plans laid out by consultants hired to replace the bridge call for removal of the span and its replacement by a new, truss-style, 10-foot-wide span for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The bridge replacement will take about a week, with another seven weeks needed for erosion control and repair of the embankments where the span meets the shore.

A final question could be placed on the warrant if enough signatures are gathered.

The added article will come in the form of a citizen's petition requesting the creation of a new Lost Lake Sewer District.

Selectmen had discussed seeking such action with placement of a formal article on the warrant but decided it would come too soon following the rejection by Lost Lake residents of a similar request made at last year's fall Town Meeting.

The citizens' petition effort is being advocated by Selectman Jack Petropoulos and will not seek funding but approval to form a sewer district, so as to place the town in a position to qualify for any state or federal grant money that might become available.

"If approved, the article would create a legal entity with no cost and no obligations," said Petropoulos. "It will simply create an entity that could accomplish some administrative tasks specifically and apply for USDA grants. And the reason for doing it at this special Town Meeting is because the deadline for applications is March 31 after which Groton would not be able to apply and not be able to get any money due to changes in the use of census data."

Special Town Meeting will be held at the Middle School's Performing Arts Center on Jan. 26 at 9 a.m.

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